Worksop rue missed penalty and red card as Bridlington win lacklustre game

Worksop Town were left to rue a missed penalty and a moment of first half madness, in their 1-0 defeat by an unimpressive Bridlington Town.
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James Cottingham’s red card for his petulant kick at Seasiders’ Tom Fleming cost Tigers dearly.

And although Mark Shaw’s side didn’t create many goalscoring opportunities other than Kyle Jordan’s saved spot-kick, they were never out of the game because their visitors were also poor.

After a fairly non descript opening, with nothing more than a few half chances for the visitors, a ball over the top released Kyle Jordan and he raced into the box, only to be fouled as he shaped to shoot.

Remarkably there was no card for the Bridlington left-back, and the Seasiders were let off the hook completely when Jordan’s weak spot-kick gave James Hitchcock an easy save.

Bridlington had a shoot-on-sight policy, Will Waudby, Tom Fleming and Joel Sutton sending early efforts off target.

Worksop debutant Kieron Davies gambled on a long ball and left his marker behind, crossing from the byline for Jordan, a defender cutting the ball out in the nick of time.

Life got so much harder for the home side when Bridlington captain went in late and high on James Cottingham, and the Tigers player reacted by swinging out a boot from the ground.

Fleming got the yellow card he deserved, and disastrously for Worksop, Cottingham got what he deserved - his marching orders.

Two minutes before the break a difficult afternoon became a mountain to climb, as Chris Adams got on the ball in the Worksop box and curled a lovely finish over Jon Kennedy into the far corner of the net.

Tigers emerged early for the second half, and Bridlington late - along with the match officials, but none of them particularly covered themselves in glory in the early stages.

Both sides got stuck into a battle of head and foot tennis, the midfields largely redundant, and the officials contrived to miss a couple of obvious fouls.

So Alex Knaggs must have felt extraordinarily unlucky when his clumsy tackle on Davies earned a yellow - although there was no further punishment, Worksop completely wasted the set-piece in a good position.

A lack of quality continued to dominate the game, especially in the final thirds, Worksop perhaps the happier with their second half given Bridlington’s numerical advantage.

One bright spark for Mark Shaw’s men was the influence Mitch Husbands had when it came on as a replacement, and Jamie Reeson looked full of running for Bridlington off the bench, haring through on goal but spooning over the bar.

As time ran into the minutes added on by the officials, Tigers finally came close to a dramatic leveller, a free-kick headed goalwards and then a scramble ensued, Lawrence throwing himself into the crowd to try and score, the referee blowing for a foul.

And as the Worksop defender got to his feet he went head to head with an opponent, Bridlington claiming a headbutt - but the referee simply issued a yellow card.

The final whistle brought wild celebrations from a side who will still count themselves title contenders.

Even the most optimistic Worksop fan in the crowd of 461 at Sandy Lane would struggle to say that about their own side, and believe it.

Worksop Town: Kennedy 5, Gorman 4 (Ofosu 79), Woolley 4, Lawrence 5, Nightingale 5 (Husbands 62) HADFIELD 6, Cottingham 3, Waddle 6, Jordan 4, Davies 4 (Higginson 67), Ward 4. Not used: Henshaw, Harrison.

Bridlington Town: Hitchcock, Lewis, W. Waudby, Harman, Knaggs, Jenkinson, Taylor, Fleming, Norfolk, Sutton, Adams (Reeson 74). Not used: Brunton, Wray, T. Waudby, Whittingham.

Referee: Mr. N. Hopton.

Assistants: Mr K. Hughes, Mr R. Raynes.

Goalscorers: Adams 43

Yellows: Lawrence 90; Fleming 37, Knaggs 53

Red: Cottingham 37

Attendance: 461.